Wing Bowl tix on sale at 9 a.m.
This morning at 9, tickets to WIP's infamous Wing Bowl will start getting gobbled up.
This morning at 9, tickets to WIP's infamous Wing Bowl will start getting gobbled up.
This year, they'll cost $7.50 each, with proceeds to benefit a scholarship fund and Philadelphia police.
But parking will be free at the Wachovia Center, where the event will be held.
The 17th annual event will be on Jan. 30, the Friday before the Super Bowl.
Today's ComcastTix sale starts at 9 a.m. Monday. Customers have three options: Call 1-800-298-1400, visit ComcastTix.com (search for "Wing Bowl") or go to the box office at the Wachovia Center on Broad Street, south of Pattison Avenue.
Customers can buy up to six tickets each, with one $2.50 service for each phone or online order (not each ticket), according to WIP (610 AM) producer Joe Weachter.
No service fee is charged at the box office.
The event usually sells out in about an hour.
This year, the chicken-wing chewing contest is open only to local amateurs, after three years of being dominated by professional eater Joey Chestnut of California.
The gates will open at 5:30 a.m., and the hoopla will begin with a parade of competitors and their entourages, including Wingettes, decked out with costumes, signs, mini-floats and props.
Wingettes are the often-scantily clad women who help serve the wings to contestants.
The top eater will win a new car, a 2009 Mini Cooper Clubman, courtesy of Mini of the Main Line.
The Wingettes also compete - for the title of Miss Wing Bowl.
Hosting as usual will be the morning team of WIP sports-talk radio: Angelo Cataldi, Al Morganti and Rhea Hughes.
This year's two beneficiaries are the WIP-Univest scholarship fund, which helps local scholar-athletes afford college, and the Philadelphia Police Foundation, which uses business donations to buy needed equipment for city officers.
Most competitors qualify for Wing Bowl by doing on-air eating stunts. In addition, eight "Wing-Offs" will pick representatives from various city neighborhoods or suburban counties.
Anyone interested in participating can find out more at www.610wip.com.